Archive for the ‘Iowa’ Category

WASHINGTON ― No sir, you cannot sue the Senate over its unprecedented obstruction of the president’s Supreme Court nominee. That’s what a federal judge ruled Thursday in dismissing the case of a New Mexico citizen who sued Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) over their refusal to hold a floor vote for Merrick Garland , President Barack Obama’s choice to sit on the high court .

Friday marked the end of early voting in the battleground state of Nevada, and the final returns brought decidedly good news for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton . Registered Democrats turned out in force in Nevada’s largest counties, providing Clinton a critical boost in a state where polling aggregates show the former secretary of state and GOP nominee Donald Trump within a few points of one another . Over 57,000 votes were cast in populous Clark County, a single-day record that propelled Democrats to a statewide ballot edge larger than they held at the same point in 2012 , when President Barack Obama won Nevada by nearly 7 points

Before there was Donald Trump there was Maine Governor Paul LePage. After being elected in 2010 without the majority of votes, LePage promised to tell President Obama to “go to hell” and said the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) can “kiss my butt.” At Maine’s Republican convention in April he denounced a proposed $12 minimum wage by mocking immigrants. “It’s hard to hear what they’re saying,” he said.

The United States electoral system is complex and sometimes hard to phantom. Under the United States Constitution, there will be fifty-one separate elections for President in each of the fifty states plus Washington DC on Tuesday, not one

Cross-Posted from DeSmogBlog Almost exactly 20 years ago, President Bill Clinton signed into law a bill creating an interstate agreement for emergency management. That inconspicuous law has opened the door for the current flood of out-of-state law enforcement agents present at the continuing protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota.

Democrats are turning out in large numbers in the battleground state of Nevada, building what may become a vital electoral firewall for the party’s presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton , in the final days of the 2016 race. As of Sunday morning, registered Democrats had established a 7-point lead over registered Republicans in the state’s early vote totals . That margin is just slightly below the lead Democrats held at the same point in 2012, when President Barack Obama ended up winning the state by 6.6 percent.

As we all know, James Comey, the director of the FBI, shook up the presidential election by informing Congress that the FBI is looking into additional emails related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton, later reported to have been found on a computer used by her close aide Huma Abedin and her lecherous husband Anthony Wiener. Director Comey said in his brief message that the emails have not been reviewed and may not be significant. This announcement was contrary to the Justice Department’s longstanding policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations and not interfering in elections within the 60 days prior to the vote

More than 80 protesters were arrested on Saturday after clashing with police near a pipeline construction site in North Dakota, according to the local sheriff’s department, which said pepper spray was used on some demonstrators. The 83 protesters were arrested near the site of the Dakota Access pipeline on numerous charges ranging from assault on a peace officer to rioting and criminal trespass, the Morton County Sheriff’s department said in a statement.

So we had the final presidential debate this week, and Donald Trump went right on being Donald Trump, which should have surprised precisely no one by now. Our subtitle today, of course, refers to the two most amusing (or horrifying, take your pick…) things Trump said during the debate. Since then, both “bad hombres” and “nasty women” are trending online

Like what you read below? Sign up for HUFFPOST HILL and get a cheeky dose of political news every evening! A new report predicts that global markets would fall sharply if Donald Trump wins the White House, and considering how much the candidate likes market crashes , that might make defeat even more difficult for him. Merrick Garland’s FOMO was temporarily relieved when a short-staffed Supreme Court delayed hearing three cases

Without taking her eye off the ball, Hillary Clinton (D-NY) should immediately start campaigning against gridlock. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) should nationalize the race for Congress on this issue. Same for Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Petros Papadakis, former USC college football captain and current analyst for Fox Sports, tells Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer about the lure of the game for young people. The two also debate whether politics belong on the field and in the locker room.

WASHINGTON ― Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is standing by his endorsement of Donald Trump for president, even after a bombshell video surfaced last week of the GOP nominee bragging about sexually assaulting women .

I have to begin today with a rather large caveat: nothing in this article deals with what has happened since Friday. Polling always lags reality, meaning that the effect of the Billy Bush/Donald Trump tape and the second debate are not reflected in today’s data one tiny bit

Another week of early voting has passed and at least 429,337 people have voted in the 2016 election. I say “at least” because I do not have information from all the states, and information from some states is a little out-of-date

For the past few weeks, national nightly news broadcasts have been leading with weather stories. California and Florida have been burning out of control, a tornado two miles in diameter wiped one Kansas town off the face of the map, and agrarian Missouri has been flooding. Fires and tornadoes, although extraordinarily dangerous and deadly, move fast and decisively, cutting a swath through all natural and manmade objects with reckless abandon

Before the RNC, the Fiscal Times declared that Trump was “not as much of a drag on the ticket as some feared.” After a bad month for the GOP nominee, I decided to test that argument, to see if that was still the case.

Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of trying to “rig the debates” by scheduling them against football games. Not only do the facts reject this argument, but Trump ignores his own double- standard, as he pulled the plug on several debates with Republican opponents in 2016

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday he’ll vote for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump , but still doesn’t trust him with America’s nuclear arsenal. “I stand by everything I said during the campaign,” Rubio told the Weekly Standard , when asked about a statement he made in February, before he dropped out of the presidential race, that he didn’t want to turn over the U.S

Polls show Hillary Clinton narrowly ahead in the California Democratic primary. “Brexit” polls show a lot of uncertainty about the UK’s June 23 referendum on whether to stay in the European Union. And most Americans back overtime eligibility expansion

Crunching the numbers shows that independents couldn’t have won Bernie Sanders the nomination. Declining trust in political institutions could be driving support for Sanders and Donald Trump. And the “gold standard” of polling isn’t so pristine these days.

The Huffington Post’s College Sleep Tour is sparking a lot of conversation on social media and in the pages of college newspapers about the importance of sleep for students. The College Sleep Tour is hitting 16 campuses through April and May, and started last week . Arianna Huffington, founder and editor-in-chief of HuffPost, says she wants the tour to spark a #SleepRevolution where students start rejecting the notion that they cannot have a social life, good grades, and still get the sleep their body needs. Over the past several months, students have blogged on HuffPost about the existing toxic culture around sleep on many campuses. “The pressure I put on myself is a direct consequence of my choice not to sleep

Last Saturday, just three days before the New Hampshire primary, Joe Biden was nestled into the darkened corner of a popular Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, restaurant, far from the maddening crowd and the snow up North. Sitting with his back to the door, facing his wife, Jill, and a guest, the vice president was close to the kitchen, not prime seating. He was almost invisible, except to those who happened to notice three SUVs idling outside, and that was probably to his liking.

This is the second post in my series, Millennials Paving The Way, highlighting today’s brightest Millennials who are empowering future generations to become change makers. How can it be a surprise that Millennials are excited about Senator Bernie Sanders

If politics were, in fact, a game of beanbag, the South Carolina primary would be a bag of rusty nails. Alas, politics ain’t beanbag . And South Carolina is just the campaign equivalent of throwing rusty nails at your rivals. The first projectiles came on Thursday, as the remaining Republican presidential candidates descended on the Palmetto State to engage in some good ole-fashion dirt-slinging and innuendo

After Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) handily beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, it’s worth taking a look at how unlikely the media considered his bid less than a year ago

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is out with a deceptive new mailer that masquerades as official government business and promises people there’s a “check enclosed” when it’s actually asking for money instead.

LISTEN HERE: By Mark Green Shrum and Lowry hear two “sighs of relief” in Iowa — from HRC, because two straight losses would’ve been awful, and from Lowry, because Iowa vindicated his gutsy National Review issue denouncing Trump. Also: There’s now a sense that Clinton’s rising in NH, while Rubio’s robotry reveals someone more callow than charismatic.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie came out swinging in Saturday night’s Republican debate on ABC. Florida Senator Marco Rubio looked like he was on the defensive for much of the night trying to protect the momentum he got with his third place finish in Iowa.

There’s a famous scene in the 1975 movie The Stepford Wives in which human robot Paula Prentiss suffers a massive circuitry meltdown. Over and over she dumps coffee grounds on the kitchen counter, smashes breakfast mugs on the floor, and utters her pre-programmed catch-phrases in an endless loop. In the final Republican debate before the New Hampshire presidential primary, something similar happened to Marco Rubio

Real estate mogul Donald Trump drew boos from the audience at the ABC News Republican presidential debate when he told Jeb Bush to quiet down during a heated exchange on the issue of eminent domain. Trump defended eminent domain, calling the expropriation of private property for public use an “absolute necessity” for the government to build schools, roads and bridges

By Emily Stephenson MANCHESTER, N.H. (Reuters) – Donald Trump and Marco Rubio could be top targets for rivals’ fire on Saturday when seven Republican White House hopefuls take the stage in New Hampshire for their eighth debate, just days before the state’s high-stakes primary. Billionaire Trump held a wide lead in polls in New Hampshire, with U.S.

Or, “When Sleazy Comes Easy.” — This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Appropriately, for the week which will also contain the Super Bowl, the first state to weigh in on the presidential election was decided (for Democrats) by a coin-toss. Or, to be accurate, seven of them

A white nationalist group that made robocalls on behalf of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Iowa is now targeting New Hampshire voters ahead of next week’s primary. “We don’t need Muslims

WASHINGTON — Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) announced this week that he wouldn’t seek another term in Congress partly because he wants to spend more time with his family. Ribble vowed to serve no more than four terms after taking office in 2010, but a sad airport farewell contributed to his decision to quit after just three terms, Ribble told “So, That Happened,” the HuffPost Politics podcast. Ribble said he took his three grandsons home to Sherwood, Wisconsin, for a few days after Christmas. “We played out in the snow and did all the things that granddads and grandsons love to do,” he said.

During Thursday night’s Democratic debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) trotted out a variation on a line we’ve heard from him often on the campaign trail: “I’m the only candidate up here who doesn’t have a super PAC.” As a loud critic of money in politics, Sanders loves to rip super PACs while on the stump

Listen to this companion podcast on SiriusXM POTUS 124. Watching the Iowa caucus returns this week, I found myself humming an old hit and wondering who among the candidates was more surprised by the results?

One of the most consequential moments of the Republican presidential primary happened to come during the first major debate, when Fox News’ Megyn Kelly pressed Donald Trump about his history of sexism . “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” Kelly explained . The real estate tycoon, who was a newbie to electoral politics but already a potential front-runner, quickly interjected

On the same day he won the Republican Iowa caucus , Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas got a favorable decision from the Illinois Board of Elections, which ruled that he met the citizenship criteria to appear on the state’s primary ballot.

At long last the 2016 presidential nomination contests have finally started with the conclusion of the first contest, and we now have the first solid glimpse at voter participation. 186,874 Iowans participated in the Republican caucus and 171,109 participated in the Democratic caucus, for a total of 357,983 or a turnout rate of 15.7% among those eligible to vote.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush was not in Iowa on caucus night, but his cash certainly was. The former Florida governor spent more money in Iowa than any other candidate and still lost big in Monday’s state caucuses. According to ad-buy data collected by Morning Consult , Bush and his super PAC, Right to Rise, have spent about $14.1 million on ads in Iowa.

These first two weeks of February are critical for presidential candidates, who are rushing between Iowa and New Hampshire to get in as much face time with voters as possible. Ben Carson, however, is taking a break. His campaign announced that he will leave Iowa on Monday night and head to Florida to get some clean clothes. His aides said he was not ending his faltering presidential bid. .

“A strong third.” Marco Rubio’s campaign, careful about expectations, insisted this was still their goal in Iowa after the debate last night. Iowa, alive this season with a plains fury, has always seemed unlikely territory for the controlled Floridian. And yet, yesterday afternoon, an NBC News poll put his Iowa support at eighteen per cent, not too far behind Ted Cruz’s twenty-five per cent.

So, that happened. Adam McKay, a multi-platform Hollywood hyphenate who helped create some of the most memorable comedies to hit the theaters, is back at the box office with his rendering of Michael Lewis’ The Big Short. And he’s a man on a mission: “I just feel like if another crisis comes, we’re going to get hit again and we’re going to be on the hook,” he says. In an interview with The Huffington Post, McKay says he was drawn to this movie — which documents the traders who bet big against America’s “too big to fail” banks before they collapsed — because he was “struck by the fact that the conversation had already stopped” after the financial crisis. So he’s taken Lewis’ story and added a blend of interweaving cinematic techniques, creating a film he hopes will be both enjoyable to watch and offer a call to rectify a system that still shows signs of breaking.

Those (of us) who do sightings of religion in public life are schooled to notice not only the “what” of religious phenomena and happenings, but also the “where” of each. A guiding theme in my observing and reporting derives from a provocative and (only slightly) over-stated claim of José Ortega y Gasset: “Tell me your landscape and I will tell you who you are.” It takes more than our “place” to explain our whole selves, but location tells much. Two items this week popped up on my screen as reminders

DES MOINES, Iowa – With the Iowa caucuses around the corner many candidates are criss-crossing across the state focusing their efforts heavily on religious voters, but many voters have questioned the role religion should play in politics. Some voters are very passionate about their religious views being reflected in politics. In fact, according to a new report from Pew Research , two-thirds of Republicans believe it is important to have a president who shares their religious beliefs

When it comes to snowboarding destinations, New York City isn’t at the top of the list. In fact, it generally doesn’t make the list at all. That all changed with the blizzard this weekend when viral video maker Casey Neistat turned the snowy streets into his own snowboarding course . For part of the video he was joined by skier Oscar Boyson, and the pair zipped through Times Square: The clip begins with new footage of Mayor Bill de Blasio warning that anyone out driving in the storm would be subject to arrest

Tina Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, and as per usual, she nailed it. Thanks to Palin’s return to the national stage in Iowa earlier this week, during which she endorsed Donald Trump , Fey had plenty of material to work with in last night’s cold open. The sketch starts off with Darrell Hammond as Trump (another all-star impression) welcoming Palin to the stage. “I am so honored to introduce my guest today. She’s great,” he says, adding, “Course she’s great, she’s endorsing me, all right?” Fey then walks out wearing a sparkly outfit that mirrored Palin’s own Iowa ensemble and kicks off her endorsement speech. “I wanted to take a break from my full-time career of writing things on Facebook to fly down here and lend my support to the next president of the United States, Donald J.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four of America’s wealthiest businessmen laid the foundation for Ted Cruz’s now-surging Republican presidential campaign and have redefined the role of political donors. With just over a week until voters get their first say, the 45-year-old Texas senator known as a conservative warrior has been ascendant.

Conservative pundit Glenn Beck endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for president Saturday, warning Republicans of what will happen if real estate magnate Donald Trump wins instead. “If Donald Trump wins, it’s going to be a snowball to hell ,” Beck said at a rally in Akeny, Iowa, a little more than a week before voters in the state head to the caucuses. Beck said he has never officially endorsed anyone for president before

The editorial board of The Des Moines Register on Saturday endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the respective Republican and Democratic nominations for president. The endorsement from the largest paper in the state comes nine days before the Feb

(Reuters) – Thick snow covered the Washington D.C. area on Saturday as a potentially record-breaking blizzard paralyzed road, rail and airline travel on the U.S. East Coast from North Carolina to New York.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Hillary Clinton brought star power to the campaign trail Thursday night, aiming to woo young Iowa voters with a live performance from singer-songwriter Demi Lovato. The 23-year-old musician joined Clinton at an organizing event on the University of Iowa campus, performing a set of three songs before nearly 2,000 adoring fans

WASHINGTON — Ted Cruz may wind up becoming Donald Trump’s greatest weapon. The Republican establishment has spent the last few months warning that the rise of Trump’s presidential candidacy represented a grave threat, not just to the party, but to the country itself. That may still be the case.

One year ago, today my wonderful father, Martin Sydney Greene, passed away, 8 days before his 87th birthday.. But what happened over the next few days would confirm to me that, indeed, neither my beloved father, or anyone, ever really dies, or goes away